Natural Remedies for Acid Reflux

I'm doing something a little different today. I've suffered from acid reflux for sixteen years, and since I've heard of other people mention they suffer from the same thing I thought I'd give you some tidbits about what induces mine and what helps bring relief.

I know what you're thinking, why not just take an over the counter medication. I've tried those, I also spent quite a while on prescription medications, but my body decided it couldn't tolerate them.



My acid reflux inducer

caffeine
chocolate
tomato sauces
white potatoes

Surprised? I was. No, not by the chocolate and caffeine, and certainly not by tomato sauces. I was, however, shocked by the potatoes. And I'll tell you, that little discovery was a God thing. Since my acid reflux was so bad, and I had this little voice in the back of my head telling me that prolonged Gerd can cause cancer, I had decided to eat nothing but potatoes. They're bland, right? So I shouldn't have had a problem. Boy, was I wrong. And if I thought my acid reflux had been bad before, the potatoes brought it to a whole different level, or two, or three. I can honestly understand how people can mistake acid reflux for a heart attack. It felt as if my chest was ripping apart. Turns out I'm allergic to white potatoes, and tomatoes, and I guess you can say all the other nightshade plants.

My acid reflux relief

sauerkraut
ginger
apple cider vinegar
1/2 teaspoon baking soda in 8oz of water
apples

As you can probably imagine, if you even like sauerkraut, it can only be tolerated for a short time. Ginger works, but it's not as effective as the apple cider vinegar. The baking soda water takes a while getting use to, and it doesn't always last as long with the severe cases, but it's great for your alkaline once you do. The absolute best thing I've found for relief is eating or fresh juicing an apple. Fuji apples work the best, followed by Pink Lady. I think the juicier they are the better.

You know the old saying, an apple a day keeps the doctor away? Well, I'm finding there is some great truth to it, and not just for treating acid reflux, but that's another blog for another day.

What are some of your favorite natural remedies?

Move Over, Pioneer Woman

Or maybe not just yet.

Tall Kid called one afternoon and asked, “Mom, are Jonathan apples any good?” I, of course, replied that they are a wonderful all-around apple and happen to be my favorite. He then informed me that he’d been given nearly all the apples on a tree and would I like them. He and his wife, he assured me, would love to come help me make apple butter and applesauce, and I could teach them to can. So, like any good mother, I said, “Yes,” and that’s how I wound up with a thirty gallon Rubbermaid tub full of apples.

Time got away from everyone, and soon those apples were rotting. <sigh> Time to take care of them. I sorted the apples that would submit to the apple peeler/corer/slicer from the ones that wouldn’t. Then I got busy washing…

 

                                                         Quartering…

                                                                                                                And cooking the apples.

  

 Then I put them through a nifty device called the Squeezo strainer. (Perhaps you can forgive the name when I tell you it was first manufactured in 1919 and by 1930 was an indispensable kitchen appliance. I inherited mine from my mother-in-law.) This appliance has to be attached to a table with a clamp-like screw. Since my dining room table is unsuitable, I used our picnic table outside.

When I took out the first batch, three yellow jackets eagerly awaited my arrival. (Not sure how they knew I’d be coming, but.. <shrug>) By the time I returned with the second batch, they’d invited their friends. About fifty of them. Swarming around my head as I worked.

The Lord and I had been chatting off and on all day, but I deemed this an appropriate time to catch Him up on what was going on in my world.

After finishing the outside part of my chore without incident, I strained the pulp for apple cider, and used the remainder for fruit leather…

And apple butter.

The fruit leather didn’t work out very well. It tasted perfect, but I couldn’t get it to peel off the dehydrator sheet. (Note to self – Next time, pour a thicker layer of pulp.)

With the rest of the apples, I cored and sliced some for drying…

And some for applesauce.

Needless to say, my family has been enjoying numerous meals featuring apples. I am grateful to God and to my son for the bountiful harvest, but I think I’ve had enough for now.